Page 23 of Damaged
He crumbles to the floor, as the cat jumps from his falling body, fleeing back up the stairs and out of the basement. I would get the hell out of there, too. She stands over him, lying on the floor, blood flowing from the wound in his brow.
“Kata…what the fuck is going on?” her little boyfriend says, striding over to where she stands. “I thought you said this was the girl’s house.“
So my little beauty’s name is Kata. I wonder if it’s short for something. Doesn’t matter because even that by itself is a beautiful name.
“It is. He’s not supposed to be here,” she growls out.
“Who…wait a minute. Is this…Holy fuck. Is that Ethan?” he asks, pointing as they both stare down at the unconscious man on the cold cement floor. She only nods, but her eyes never move, and the anger on her face doesn’t dissipate. “That…” he blows out a heavy breath, resting his hands on his hips. “That’s fucked up. Especially if this means what I think it means.”
Kata’s head moves, looking up the stairs as if she heard something. When he crouches down next to the guy on the floor, Kata heads to the bottom of the stairs. Her boy toy reaches out, pressing two fingers to the guy’s neck; I’m guessing to make sure he’s still alive. She looks up the rickety wooden steps as he looks over at her.
“He’s out, but I don’t know for how long. What do you want to do?”
Turning her head, looking around the vast dark room, she places her hands on the banister of the stairs as she gives instructions, taking charge of the situation easily. “Find something to tie him up with. I’m going to check upstairs. I’ll be right back,” she says, taking the first few steps, moving to the first floor of the house. Standing quickly, he steps over the man on the floor toward my girl. I can tell he’s worried about her going alone, and I appreciate his protective side. But now that’s my job.
Jumping up from my place on the ground, I hear them talking, but I know I need to get in there. I don’t know what’s about to happen, but I just know I might be needed. Moving around to the rear of the house, I step quickly but silently. The backyard is dark as I round the edge of a cement back patio with a screen all the way around to keep the bugs out.
Entering the closed area, I head to the back door and reach out for the doorknob. Typically in neighborhoods as quiet as this one, especially when they have the backyard areas somewhat secured with a fence, the door might not be…nope. Not locked, just as I thought.
Walking into the dark kitchen, I glance around and close the door behind me softly with a smallclick. There is a door in the middle of a short hall just off the kitchen that is open, obstructing my view to the rest of the house. I’m pretty positive that’s the door to the basement. My head lifts as I look up at the ceiling when I hear footsteps upstairs. I’m assuming one of them went up there to check around and do whatever it is they came to do.
Moving past the center island counter, I remove my Sig from the back of my pants. Stepping behind the open door, I peek around it and see another set of stairs to the side leading up to the second floor.
A blood curdling scream is heard coming from the direction of the stairs. My body turns cold, like someone just doused me with ice water. Moving quickly, I step around the door to the basement, pushing it closed along the way and moving to the bottom of the stairs. Just as my feet hit the bottom step, ready to take them two at a time, I hear more voices coming from the second floor, halting me right where I’m at.
A loud voice.
An angry voice.
Her voice.
“Shut the fuck up, Vicky. I fucking warned you,” my little beauty, Kata, growls out as I hear a commotion and things hitting the floor. “You didn’t listen and now…you’re fucking dead.”
“N-no…pl-please Kata…don’t do–”
“SHUT! UP!” Kata yells, interrupting the crying girl's pleading. There is a loud noise, then muffled screaming coming from up there. I’m worried for a moment, but I’m sure from what I’ve seen so far, she can handle herself.
Fuck…I love hearing her vicious side. She is a feral little thing.
The door to the basement bangs open again, and just as her little boy toy rounds the corner to the stairs, he slides to a stop. His face paling, eyes as wide as saucers, as I quickly lift my gun and point it right between his eyes.
“You…” he whispers, as his brow furrows in confusion.
“Me.”
Keeping my gun trained on him, my eyes move to the top of the stairs as my darling Kata comes into view at the edge of the landing. Her face is full of fury, but when her eyes land on me, she stops short and I see a hint of confusion cross her beautiful features. In her right hand, she has a fist full of another girl’s hair, who is bent over at the waist, pulling her along beside her.
“The fuck? How the fuck did you get here?” she asks me as she starts pulling the girl down the stairs slowly. The woman shehas a tight hold on is stumbling along trying to keep up, still struggling to pull out of Kata’s hold, but my little savage darling isn’t having any of that.
“Drove here, of course.”
She rolls her eyes and shakes her head at my reply but continues taking each step slow and steady, like she has all the time in the world. Not like she doesn’t have this woman’s boyfriend or husband knocked out in the basement, and could come to at any time now.
Glancing at the woman Kata has at her mercy, it appears she’s already duct-taped her mouth shut, along with her hands behind her back. The tape is wrapped all the way around her head, making sure that it doesn’t just come off.
The woman is sobbing, and one of her arms seems to be in cast, which is making her appear lopsided and causing her to be off kilter a bit.
The closer she gets to me and the bottom of the steps, I see her eyes shoot to where my arm is extended and notice my gun trained on her little friend. And immediately the confusion and intrigue I just saw in her face is gone and the rage is back.
